| Arthur Millspaugh |
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| american political writers | |
| millspaugh, arthur | |
| 1883 births | |
| 1955 deaths | |
| albion college alumni | |
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With his help, Iran became independent of foreign loans to maintain its economy. Back then (before World War 2 ), the Iranian public viewed the United States as a liberator from British and Russian dominance, as well as the country which would make Iran prosperous and rich. Up until the Cold War, Millspaugh tried, unsuccessfully, to influence the US State Department's policies toward Iran. As Administrator-General of Finances of Iran, he brought positive results in balancing the Iranian budget, further strengthening the American case in Iranian government circles. Iranian government officials were grateful to Millspaugh by who appreciable reduction was effected in the monthly deficit of the Iranian Government account. He first came to Iran in 1922, and worked in Tehran for 4 years, and again returned in 1942 by the invitation of Iran's 13th Majles. Despite being given temporary legislative authority, Millspaugh's reforms were unable to rejuvenate the Iranian economy. Reza Shah terminated the authority on grounds of Millspaugh’s repeated noncompliance with the Shah’s requests for increased military expenditure. Millspaugh managed to implement a number of reforms, including a new taxation law that hit the poor hard but financed Reza Shah’s Trans-Iranian Railway project, which got underway in 1927 . The mission’s accomplishments were repeatedly hampered by internal political rivalries in Iran and a wide-spread system of patronage and graft among many leading Iranian politicians. Fancying himself the successor to Morgan Shuster ’s unfulfilled legacy of restructuring Iran’s economy, in 1925 Millspaugh published a book on his assignment in Iran, ''"The American Task in Persia"''. Discussing Iran’s shattered economy, Millspaugh’s book sympathetically portrayed Iran and Iranians, but heaped criticism on the Iranian bureaucracy. "The American task in Persia" was highly influential in shaping American political opinion towards Iran. Commentaries on Iran appearing in American foreign policy journals, such as ''Foreign Affairs'' and ''Foreign Policy Reports'', or in leading journals such as Time magazine, frequently relied on Millspaugh’s accounts as a principal source. In 1942 Millspaugh headed another financial mission, this time clearly connected with the US State Department. His mission was hampered again by internal political rivalries in Iran, the entrenched vested interests of the Iranian political elite (economic, military, political, and tribal), and frequent cabinet reshuffles in Tehran with seesawing political orientations (with 11 prime ministers between 1941 and 1946 ). The financial mission under Millspaugh’s supervision again became a source of irritation between Tehran and Washington and had to be terminated in 1945 . In 1946 , his second book on Iran, ''Americans in Persia'', was published by the policy think-tank Brookings Institution . Replete with “clinical” metaphors, and speaking from experience from his days working for the Shah's government, Millspaugh this time was more pessimistic and critical of Iranians, portraying them as incapable of self-government: ''"Persia cannot be left to herself, even if the Russians were to keep their hands off politically. ...Persia has never yet proved its capacity for independent self-government."'' (p 243 of his second book) BOOKS BY ARTHUR MILLSPAUGH
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